Kremlin Would Bypass Ukraine as Transit Country for Shipping Gas to European Union

By

Stephen Fidler in Davos, Switzerland and

Gabriele Steinhauser in Brussels

Updated Jan. 22, 2015 1:45 pm ET

Russian plans to build a new pipeline through Turkey and bypass Ukraine as a transit country for shipping gas to the European Union won’t work, the EU’s energy chief said on Thursday.

In an interview with The Wall Street Journal at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Maros Sefcovic said the capacity foreseen for the project, some 63 billion cubic meters of natural gas a year, surpasses demand from potential customers, including Turkey and South Eastern Europe.